


Santa Please

by Brenna_Fae



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Big Brother Dean, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 17:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13151067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brenna_Fae/pseuds/Brenna_Fae
Summary: When Sam is pulled from school right before Christmas to move again he's mad. He had an unfinished assignment that was gonna have a big impact on his Christmas.When big brother Dean realizes this isn't Sam's usual discontent he knows he needs to do something to fix it.





	Santa Please

**Author's Note:**

> This is going up Super late and its unbeta'd and heck it's even completely unedited. I didn't even have a chance to give it a reread. So I apologize for any poor grammar or typos but I really wanted to get it out.
> 
> The idea comes from a Christmas story I used to read every year when I was a kid. It was in a collection of Christmas stories and I can't for the life of me remember what the name was but it occurred to me the other day how perfect it would be for an early Winchesters story.

Dean glanced back at his little brother and had to bite down on his bottom lip to stop himself from trying to distract him with a joke or a silly story. It was clear his usual antics weren’t going to work this time. Sam was always grumpy when they had to up and move, now that he was old enough to actually notice, but this time was different.

Once again, Dean’s eyes were drawn to the folded paper that Sam had clutched in his little hand. He hadn’t let go since their dad had walked out of the school where Sam had been going to kindergarten for the last month, a pouting Sam in tow. It was never fun to get pulled from school in the middle of the day to find out it was time to move on. Dean had wised up by now, knowing there wasn’t much point in getting invested or making friends that you were gonna leave before you were even close enough for sleepovers, not that John would let Dean go to one.

“Whatcha got there, Sammy?” Dean asked, nodding to the paper when Sam looked over at him.

Sam looked back down at the paper in his hand and his fingers tightened, crushing the paper into a wrinkly mess.

“Nothing. Something I was supposed to give to my teacher but it doesn’t matter now.” Sam said before turning back to glare out the window.

Dean peeked over at his dad, who had remained impassive during the exchange as he drove towards their next destination, before settling in for a long silent ride.

***

Dean watched as Sam stalked off to the side lot of the motel, leaving Dean to carry in their bags and the back door of the car wide open. Sighing, he grabbed the two duffles from the trunk before going to close the door. Luckily their dad had left for the main office to check in because Dean was not in the mood for Sam’s temper tantrum. Dean was starting to miss the days when Sam didn’t know anything different than the way their life was. Since he started school and found out that most kids spend more than a few weeks in one spot he had started complaining more. He didn’t seem to get that what their dad was doing was important, mostly cause he had no idea _what_ their dad did.

Just as he was about to push the door shut, Dean spotted a flash of white on the floorboard of the backseat. Setting one of the bags down, Dean picked up the paper. It was even more crumpled than before but it was obviously the paper Sam had been holding in a deathgrip. Which was why it was strange that after hours of not letting it go he just tossed it like so much trash. Dean carefully opened the paper up and smoothed it out, his stomach sinking.

It was clearly a xeroxed copy of a copy of a copy, the lines becoming fuzzy. The printout was titled with “Dear Santa” with a big box in the middle. On the bottom, in Sam’s painstakingly careful handwriting was his name. Of course, Sam being the overachiever he was, it didn’t just have his first name but his last as well. Something Dean is certain wasn’t part of the actual assignment since Sam had been so excited when he told his dad and his brother that he was the first one in his class that could write his full name without having to copy it.

Taking up the majority of the empty box was a bright green Christmas tree covered in little scribbled ornaments and lights. On top was a blonde haired angel with green eyes and Dean couldn’t help but think it looked a lot like their mom.

Dean knew what this was. He remembered similar things from school. He never took them seriously of course. You don’t need to send your Christmas list to Santa if you know that he doesn’t exist.

Still, Sam believed. And even though sometimes Dean didn’t think it was fair that Sam was allowed his ignorance it was still his little brother. And all his little brother wanted from Santa was a damn Christmas tree. Not toys, not candy, not a pony. A dumb old Christmas tree.

***

“I said no Dean.” John snapped. “Christmas is only a week away and I have to get a move on this hunt before more people are hurt. I don’t have time to run out myself and there’s only enough cash to feed you boys til I get back and can hustle some more cash.”

Dean watched as John did a quick check of the contents of the secret compartment where his hunting gear was stored. He didn’t know why he actually thought it would be no big deal to ask John to get a tree. But now Dean was not only frustrated at the refusal, he also felt a sick twist in his stomach. The cash John had given him was about what he usually expected Dean to use for a couple weeks at least.

“Are...are you gonna be back by Christmas Dad?” Dean asked, trying to keep his voice from showing disappointment with the answer he was anticipating.

John’s hand stilled for a second before resuming his inspection.

“Look Dean, the job is still a little over a day’s drive away and the next attack won’t be til the full moon which is the day before Christmas. Now, I’m hoping I’ll be able to find this thing _before_ someone else gets hurt but you know how it goes. Without details it’s almost impossible.” John finished without looking at Dean.

Dean felt a little dizzy. He knew the feeling. He got the same feeling every time he felt a fresh set of responsibilities dropped on him. Or maybe it was from the feeling of losing a little bit more of his dad. John may have been absent a lot but he’d never missed Christmas before.

Dean jumped at the sound of the trunk slamming shut.

“I don’t like it any more than you do son, but you know people’s lives come before frivolous things like made up holidays. Now, get your brother and get in the car. I gotta take you boys over to the school to get you registered before I can head out.”

Something clicked as he processed John’s order and he was calling to his dad before he had a fully formed idea. But John was waiting for Dean to speak and making him wait when he was itching to leave on a hunt was a bad idea so Dean would have to figure out the details later.

“Dad, there’s only a few more days left of school before vacation anyway. Can we hold off on school til after?” Dean asked hesitantly.

“You know Sammy will complain if he doesn’t go to school when he’s supposed to. He just barely started accepting that he can’t just show up at school on the weekends and holidays.” John grumbled.

“Let me take care of it. Please?” Dean didn’t want to beg, his dad usually saw that as whining, but this was important.

John stood there staring at Dean for a long moment before he turned and strode to the door of their room. He pushed the door open and called for Sam and Dean felt overwhelmed by his disappointment. Sam appeared at the door, his hair still sleep mussed and his eyes still puffy from being woken up. Dean couldn’t bear to watch. Not because he thought John would tell Sam that he wasn’t going to be there for Christmas but because he knew he wasn’t, that he was gonna leave it for Dean to do. At least Sam would be happy to go to school for a couple of days.

“I’m hittin the road Sam. You make sure to mind your brother.”

Dean’s head snapped up in surprise at John’s change of mind. Which is why caught Sam’s face morph into confusion and the start of frustration.

“What about school? You gotta bring us in the first day or they won’t let us stay you said.”

Dean could see the start of an argument and the unravelling of his plans so he had to act quickly.

“You gotta stay home Sammy. You’re sick.” Dean said as he hurried to his brother’s side.

“No I’m not Dean.” Sam said, his confusion only growing. “I don’t feel sick.”

“Yeah but…” Dean started slowly, looking over to his dad for help and receiving nothing but a raised eyebrow. “You woke up in the middle of the night all sweaty and we checked and you have a super high fever. Sometimes you feel better after sleeping but…” Dean paused to lean forward and touch his hand to Sam’s forehead before nodding and continuing “yup, still burning up. Say bye to dad and then I’m gonna run to the store for some juice while you get more sleep, kay buddy?”

For a second it didn’t look like Sam was gonna buy it but then he shrugged and leaned over to hug his dad briefly before turning back to the room. Dean could see him crawling back into bed through the open door.

“Make sure you check the salt lines before you leave and don’t be gone long Dean.” John said, barely pausing to lay a hand on Dean’s shoulder before heading to the car.

“Yes sir.” Dean replied absently as his mind went into problem solving mode. Before John closed the door Dean ran over to him. “Hey Dad? Can you try and be back by January second?"

John considered Dean’s request with confusion and a little bit of curiosity but he didn’t ask questions.

“Sure, that should be doable.” he finally answered.

Soon Dean was watching the brakelights of the car as it pulled out of the parking lot and sped away. Just a moment to collect his thoughts and then Dean was moving. He did as he was told and made sure Sam was safe and secure before heading out. Things would be so much less complicated if they were in one of the northern states where Dean could just hike to the nearest woods and chop down a tree himself. But no, they were in Florida. Not a lot of pine trees. So instead, Dean had to build an elaborate ruse. One look at Sam’s peaceful sleeping face was all Dean needed to know it was worth it.

So before he went to the store he stopped by the library. Watching the librarian closely to make sure she was still focused on the book she was reading Dean quickly filled his emptied duffle bag with books. If this was going to work Dean would have to keep Sam occupied but away from the tv. He eyed the shelf filled with VHS movies and contemplated whether or not he could charm the lady at the front desk into loaning them a VCR. Confident in his ‘sick brother’ routine Dean opted to grab a bunch of those as well.

Not wanting to be questioned in case the librarian saw him come in with a much less full bag Dean found a window behind the large stacks of research books. He opened it, careful to go slow to avoid noisy squeaks, before dropping his bag out and lowering the window again. After hurrying past the front desk and out the door Dean retrieved his bag before heading to the store.

Dean was successful at scamming a VCR from the front desk, laying it on thick about his brother being so sad that he was sick for Christmas. When Sam saw all the books and videos Dean had brought home he forgot he was supposed to be mopey.

Christmas came and went without Sam even noticing. Dean had been able to convince him he was too sick to go to school right up until the Friday before New Years and Sam didn’t even pout when Dean told him he was better but that Christmas vacation had started so he’d have to wait til after to go to school. Of course that may have had something to do with the fact that Dean had spent almost every waking moment reading and rereading the books he’d grabbed from the library to Sam. Occasionally he would get a break while Sam watched one of the videos and he was proud of the fact that he’d been able to help Sam start to sound out most of the words in one of the early reader books he’d grabbed. But Dean was sick of the sound of his own voice.

Dean was thrilled that so far his plan was working but as the days got closer to the second and John hadn’t said he was on his way during his nightly check ins Dean was getting more nervous. His plan would take several hours to complete and he’d have to do it at night while Sam was sleeping but one of the biggest rules was not leaving Sam alone at night. Too many things that only came out at night and who wouldn’t be stopped by a salt line.

Thankfully Dean was able to breathe a sigh of relief when John called New Years Eve and said he’d be leaving early in the morning to head back to them. He promised he’d be there before dark. Dean did his best to ignore the fact that he could hear the sounds of drunken celebrations in the background. John would be there in time for Dean to put his plan in motion so who cared if John took an extra night away to ring in the New Year with strangers instead of his sons.

Sam was buzzing with excitement when he woke up on ‘Christmas Eve’. Dean could tell he was a little worried when he saw their dad still wasn’t home but Dean promised he’d make it in time and John hadn’t missed a Christmas yet to Sam’s knowledge. Nevermind the fact that he’d be home a week late. Sam didn’t need to know.

Dean was just feeding the last of his change into the vending machines to get get cookies and soda for Santa when he heard the familiar rumble of his home on wheels. Sam had insisted it needed to be milk but when Dean threatened to not get anything Sam conceded soda would be better than nothing. Relieved, Dean collected his purchases and headed back to the room, shooting a wave to his dad before heading in to set up Santa’s treats.

Sam’s face lit up when John walked in the door behind Dean and Dean decided not to mention that the sun had set a couple of hours ago. Instead he finished his task before ushering Sam into bed. John was busy checking Dean’s work with the salt lines before he dumped his bag on the second bed and headed into the bathroom to shower. By the time he was done Dean had finished reading and Sam was passed out. Thank goodness Sam still slept like the dead and he hadn’t developed the uneasy sleep of a person who knew what hid in the dark. Dean was going to be relying on it.

Once John was settled Dean pulled on his shoes and jacket. He wished he had hat and gloves to wear and maybe a heavier coat. Even in Florida the nights got cold in the middle of winter. It was going to be a long night, but if it all worked out like he hoped it would be totally worth it. So Dean spent the night skulking through to suburbs that were just a quarter mile away, going back and forth between the motel and the neighborhoods full of families that wouldn’t let their nine year old (almost ten Dean, time to start manning up) spend most of the night outside and unattended.

Still, when Dean crawled into bed next to Sam just as the sun was starting to color the night sky, he was exhausted but satisfied. He made sure to keep his numb fingers and toes to his side of the bed as they slowly came back to life. As warmth soaked back into him Dean drifted off into peaceful slumber.

Which couldn’t have lasted more than an hour before a sharp gasp and a shift of the bed had Dean springing up in alarm. He slowly relaxed when he spotted Sam sitting up next to him, his little brother’s eyes wide and full of a wonder Dean was starting to worry he would lose way too soon. Dean followed Sam’s gaze and took in his own handywork. The room was filled with the scent of pine. It looked almost like a forest had sprouted up overnight, leaving just enough room to walk from the beds to the bathroom and the front door. Some trees had shining strings of tinsel laced within its branches. Others had strings of garland weaved through the needles. The best looking tree had been placed front and center and the strings of colored lights that Dean had been able to purchase at a huge discount a couple of days after Christmas twinkled.

Dean remembered just in time to school his features into a look of surprise as Sam turned to look at him.

“Dean! Can you believe it?” Sam practically squealed.

“Believe what Sammy? What the heck is all this? It wasn’t here when I went to sleep.” Dean hammed up his confusion to egg Sam’s enthusiasm along.

“It was Santa Dean! I just don’t know how-” Sam stopped abruptly, frowning a little at the memory. “The day we had to leave school. I didn’t have a chance to turn in my list. The teacher was s’posed to mail them for us but I just finished when Dad came and then I figured what’s the point since I’d have a different address by Christmas and Santa wouldn’t know where I was.”

“I’m still not understanding Sam.” Dean said as he caught movement from the corner of his eye and knew his dad was sitting up now on his bed.

“Santa brought it. I… I was gonna ask him for a Christmas tree. All my friends at school were so excited when they talked about their Christmas trees and… I never got a tree before.” Sam finished with a bit of a sad look.

But then he was looking at the trees again and took it all in, the warmth and joy returning. Dean glanced over to his dad and didn’t miss the look of guilt that was there and gone in a flash. Whatever guilt John might feel about what his kids weren’t getting was always quickly washed away by the drive of the job.

Dean didn’t have much time to think on that though because Sam was suddenly springing up out of bed and running over to their dad’s duffle bag. John made a noise of protest when Sam pulled his journal out but quieted quickly when all he did was pull out a picture that was tucked in the pages near the back. Sam moved over to the tree with the lights but his eyes were glued to the picture in his hands. He looked up at John and suddenly seemed shy.

“Dad… could you maybe lift me up? Please?” Sam asked quietly.

John stood and moved to stand behind Sam and looked down at the picture. At first he looked confused, then understanding flooded his face, followed by what Dean would think were teary eyes if he’d ever seen his dad cry before. But he did as Sam asked and lifted him up high. Then Sam was reaching out and tucking the photo into the tiny branches at the top of the tree.

Once Sam was back on the ground he began to talk excitedly. Dean was vaguely aware of him pointing out the half eaten cookies. John must have actually splurged or done well at the pool tables because Dean registered the crinkling of wrapping paper being poked at and torn open. He wasn’t really paying attention though.

Dean was too busy trying to decide whether to laugh with joy or cry as he stared up at the top of the tree where the most beautiful angel sat, lit up and glowing by the Christmas lights below.

He took one last indulgent look up at Mary Winchester, who looked down at him, the angel of his Christmas tree, before he joined Sam.

“Merry Christmas Sammy.” Dean whispered as he wrapped an arm around his baby brother.

“Merry Christmas Dean.” Sam said as he looked up at his big brother, his face radiating pure joy.


End file.
